Bowhunting with a traditional bow is tough. Add a baby and it’s even tougher. Yes, I know how crazy that sounds. I’m fairly new to the world of traditional archery, having hunted just four deer seasons with stick and string. I’ve been pretty lucky for the most part, filling tags every year and [...]
“Are you nuts?” my buddy, Dave, asked. It was not a rhetorical question. I got the impression that he was legitimately concerned about my mental health. He did not smile and was obviously waiting for an answer. I had just informed him that I was planning to stalk turkeys with my recurve. No [...]
In the Apr/May 2019 issue of TBM, I penned an article introducing saddle hunting to those who may be unfamiliar with the concept. I had no idea of the explosion that was about to take place in the saddle hunting world since submitting that article. Back then there were only two commercially available [...]
I only needed to make another 20 feet before I should be able to see where the goat had gone. I was scrambling to gain my footing on the steep scree when a grapefruit-sized rock slammed into my shoulder, almost knocking me down the slope and over a ledge. He must be heading [...]
“He would eat no fish the day before the hunt, and smoke no tobacco, for these odors are detected a great way off. He rose early, bathed in the creek, rubbed himself with the aromatic leaves of yerba buena, washed out his mouth, drank water, but ate no food.” — Saxton Pope’s account [...]
Camping in the wild can be an important part of the bowhunting experience, offering solitude, proximity to nature, and an opportunity to hunt unpressured game. Most of us spending any length of time in the woods are going to sleep in some kind of tent. Sure, you can roll up in a tarp [...]
When a hunter goes into the woods, he is at a disadvantage. The game he pursues has better eyesight, an ability to hear at greater distances, and a far more acute nose. Game animals also have a natural instinct to sense danger. One way a hunter tries to tilt the odds in his [...]
I call this story “Alaska on Layaway” because that’s the best way I can describe how a blue-collar guy like myself could afford such an Alaskan adventure. It all started with a call to Denis Zadra with Lonesome Dove Outfitters in Cordova, Alaska during the winter of 2016. I knew I couldn’t afford [...]
I hate not having something I need when I’m hunting. Unfortunately, the choice often seems to be either toting around a good-sized pack or doing without something I need. By finding compact, light gear that still gets the job done, though, you can have both mobility and the stuff you wish you had [...]
“Woof!” The sound sent a chill down my spine. I looked over my shoulder to see a large, hungry looking grizzly bear watching me intently from directly across the river. I turned my head momentarily to warn Mike. “Bear!” I whispered. As I looked back at the bear, he stood up on his [...]
